UCLA faculty and staff were told to expect a year without a pay
raise Thursday, as Vice Chancellor of Finance Steve Olsen warned
the campus could lose $25 million in the next fiscal year.
Faculty and staff have received small pay raises in recent years
““ though less than the 4 percent guaranteed by Gov. Gray
Davis. This is the first time, since 1994, the budget has not
provided any raise.
“It’s not anything the university would have
anticipated,” Olsen said.
Pay cuts are unlikely at this point but could occur if the UC
must face additional cuts, he said.
Olsen’s assessments are based on the budget Davis proposed
a week ago.
Non-partisan legislative analyst Elizabeth Hill said on
Wednesday that Davis is overestimating the size of the state
deficit by $8.5 billion.
The difference is primarily the result of Hill having a more
optimistic outlook on the state’s ability to collect revenue,
Olsen said.
The budget will be debated in the state legislature in coming
months and will likely change, so Olsen stressed his analysis is
not final.
But many faculty members, listening to Olsen’s
presentation at the Faculty Center, expressed concern about their
jobs and paychecks.
Outside, members of the University Professional and Technical
Employees union expressed similar concerns to passersby.
“One of the easier things to knock off is pay raises for
faculty and staff,” said campus UPTE member Cindy
Kimmick.
Faculty and staff were recently required to pay more for their
health plan and for various university fees such as campus
parking.
“The students are going to be paying more and more and
faculty and staff make less and less,” said Steven Moore,
professor in the UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television and
Digital Media.
He said the possibility of a $795-per-year increase in student
fees was among his largest concerns with this year’s
budget.
Davis is expecting the UC Board of Regents to raise student fees
instead of taking a $179.1 million cut to the instructional budget,
which funds faculty salaries and other services that are part of
the university’s teaching mission.
Olsen said preserving this fund is the highest budget priority
for the regents, Davis and legislators.
While pay increases are not in this year’s budget, Olsen
tried to reassure faculty members they would not suffer pay
cuts.
“There is nothing I have seen in the governor’s
budget that would require UCLA to participate in a pay cut,”
Olsen said.
But if the regents are unwilling to raise student fees by nearly
$800 or if the legislature decides the UC should take more cuts,
the faculty could suffer, Olsen said. In the recession of the early
’90s, some staff members were forced to take pay cuts.
“I know a lot of people on campus are very
concerned,” Kimmick said.
The lack of pay raises and the fear of either pay cuts or
layoffs will cause staff members to leave UCLA for more stable
jobs, she said.
The proposed state cuts only account for approximately 3 percent
of UCLA’s campus budget, Olsen said.
But cuts are concentrated in certain areas ““ such as
outreach and student services ““ that will feel a much larger
impact, he said.
The state is providing additional funding to accommodate
enrollment growth. UCLA is expected to grow by 840 full-time
students next year.